Harare: Alistair Campbell is the new Zimbabwe cricket captain for the tour by Pakistan, which begins here on Monday.
And Campbell immediately launched a psychological salvo at the Pakistanis, who are licking their wounds following three successive heavy defeats by Australia. Campbell suggested that because several Pakistan players will be fighting not only for their places but also for their future careers and because of Pakistan's recent internal problems, the advantage lay with the home side. Pakistan will be playing two Test matches and five One-day Internationals over the next month. The first Test gets under way in Harare on November 9. After arriving here on Friday evening, Pakistan will begin a three-day match against Zimbabwe "A" on Monday. Campbell takes over the captaincy from Heath Streak, who suffered a shoulder injury in a motor accident in Colombo, Sri Lanka, last month. Streak will not be fit to play until January next year. Campbell, a left-handed top order batsman, has previously captained Zimbabwe but resigned following a series of poor results three years ago. He said that Pakistan's recent setbacks may, however, give his team more resolve, especially as several fine young players were looking for more permanent places. "Much depends on whether we can knock over early wickets. They can be prone to early collapses and we must capitalise on that," he said. Zimbabwe: Alistair Campbell (captain), Andy Flower (vice-captain), Guy Whittall, Mark Vermeulin, Grant Flower, Tatenda Taibu, Blessing Mahwire, Campbell McMillan, Hamilton Masakadza, Andy Blignaut, Douglas Hondo, Mluleki Nkala, Dion Ebrahim, Stewart Matsikenyeri, Sean Ervine, Richard Sims, Gavin Ewing, Raymond Price and Travis Friend.
Tags: cricket, alistair campbell, zimbabwe captain, tour, pakistan, psychological salvo, three successive heavy defeats, australia, future careers, recent internal problems, advantage lay, home side, test matches, five one-day internationals, three-day match, captaincy, heath streak, suffered shoulder injury, sri lanka, left-handed top order batsman, andy flower, vice-captain, guy whittall, mark vermeulin, grant flower, tatenda taibu, blessing mahwire, campbell mcmillan, hamilton masakadza, andy blignaut, douglas hondo, mluleki nkala, dion ebrahim, stewart matsikenyeri, sean ervine, richard sims, ga.
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